Examination of the Relationship Between Psychological Well-Being and Post-Traumatic Growth in University Students who Attend Sports Courses

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between psychological well-being and post-traumatic growth levels in university students who attend sports courses and who do not, whether the characteristics of psychological well-being and post-traumatic growth after the pandemic differ according to demographic (gender, faculty, place of accommodation, exercise habits) variables and the relationship between psychological well-being and post-traumatic growth characteristics after the pandemic. The research, which was designed based on the relational research method, was conducted with 328 participants studying in physical education and sports schools and in other departments. The participants were administered the "Post-Traumatic Growth Scale" and the "Psychological Well-Being Scale" along with a personal information form to ascertain the demographic characteristics. The independent samples t-test was used to compare two independent groups, in which it was determined that the data showed normal distribution. Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were employed to determine the relationship between the variables According to the findings obtained, it is noticed that the post-traumatic growth characteristics of university students are medium and psychological well-being levels are high, that post-traumatic growth characteristics and psychological well-being levels of university students studying sports differ significantly from those studying in other departments, that there is a moderate positive relationship between post-traumatic growth characteristics and psychological well-being level, and that post-traumatic growth explains the 12.6% of the total variance which psychological well-being is a significant predictor of. As a result, it has been found that university students who receive sports education have higher levels of post-traumatic growth and psychological well-being compared to students from other departments. Sports is considered an effective tool in the face of trauma-inducing situations such as pandemics.